14 - Mr. Roberts Goes to North Wales

14 MR. ROBERTS GOES TO NORTH WALES

SOON AFTER THIS, Mr. Roberts’ sphere of service was completely changed. All over North Wales expressions were heard that he should "come over and help us." There was no evading or dismissing the call.

Now, for the benefit of those who do not know, it is well to explain that temperamentally there is a vast difference between the inhabitants of North and South Wales. Even the language, strange as it may seem, differs much in dif­ferent localities. Once one leaves the region of Bible speech, it is sometimes difficult for the people to under­stand each other. Grammatical expressions, if strictly ad­hered to, make things much easier. The workaday dia­lect of the people can become difficult. Because of this real problem, I was obliged to refuse several invitations to conduct evangelistic campaigns in places visited by Mr. Evan Roberts in the North. Somehow one enter­tained a mortal dread of using a colloquialism in public speech which has different meanings in different localities. The difficulty was not an imaginary one. Who having had the experience once can deny it? But there was and is so much in common among the Welsh people that, although geographically separated by hills, valleys and rivers, their ideals are identical . . . Politically, they have been of one mind for generations. Liberalism stood for liberty for the individual, religiously and economically. In consequence, North and South Wales stood united. Within my memory, every constituency in Wales was represented in the House of Commons by a wholehearted Liberal. Not a single delinquent among them. David Lloyd George, perhaps the greatest Welsh­man of our time, carried the flaming torch, and gave per­fect expression to the urge inherent in the Celtic heart for liberty and independence.

Religiously, North and South Wales were of one mind-passionately religious. The chapel was the center of interest in both sections. Calvinistic Methodism predom­inated in the rugged North; in the more industrial South, the Baptist and Congregationalists were numerically the stronger. Each contributed its quota toward creating, in its own peculiar way, a chapel-going, Bible-loving popula­tion that made the people unique in the world. For in­stance, few people are aware of the fact that the British and Foreign Bible Society originated among the Welsh. The Reverend Thomas Charles of Bala suggested a So­ciety for circulating the Scriptures in his beloved Wales, while the Reverend Thomas Hughes, a Baptist in a Lon­don pastorate, also an enthusiastic WeIshman, ventured an expression of the opinion that it should include "the peoples of the whole world." Hence the adoption of the immortal slogan, well known by every Celt throughout the world, "A Bible for all the peoples of the world" (Beibl i Bawb 0 Bobl y Byd)-a sentence for its concise­ness, comprehensiveness and beauty, difficult to match in any language. Thus Wales gave birth to an organization that has circulated the sacred Scriptures in the millions, and translated them into one thousand languages and dialects. What preachers different places in Wales have produced! The one-eyed Baptist preacher, Christmas Evans, was a sensational orator. Mr. Spurgeon, preaching on the text, "O! death, where is thy sting," once exclaimed, "Oh! for the tongue of Christmas Evans when dealing with a theme like this!" John Elias 0 Fon was another peerless gospel preacher, while William Williams Y Wern mightily moved his generation by his marvelous gift.

South Wales perhaps has given the largest number of revivalists and has sponsored more movements that have changed the morals of the nation. The Reverend Vavasor Powell of Radnorshire heralded the Methodist revival, his oratory shaking the whole land. The latter part of his life was spent in terrible suffering in foul prisons, but his spirit lived on. Did it kindle the flame in the heart of the Reverend Griffith Jones, of Llanddowror, leading him to establish the charity schools that assisted materially in removing the stigma of illiteracy ion the Wales of his day and prepared the way for the outburst of spiritual power in the later revival? Young converts were taught to read in these simple charity schools, and this training stabilized the results of the divine movement. What shall we say of the Reverend Daniel Rowlands of Llangeitho, who, when reading the words in the Litany one Sunday morning in his church, "By Thine agony and bloody sweat," was so overwhelmed that both he and the con­gregation broke down? That assembly was transported in spirit to lonely Gethsemane, where they visualized the God-Man in solitary majesty and regal weakness, gripping the death-cup in His final struggle with "the despotisms, the empires, the forces that control and govern this dark world-the spiritual hosts of evil arrayed against us in the heavenly warfare" (Weymouth). It meant the be­ginning of a revival. Afterward came the Reverend David Morgan, Ysbutty, Pembrokeshire, in 1859, thundering his anathemas against iniquity. He moved the nation God­-ward as did his predecessors.

North Wales gave the godly Richard Owen to the Church, two decades or so before the period of which we are writing, a man who was consumed to ashes by the divine flame that burned in his soul. Like David Brainerd among the Indians of North America, he died a young man, mourned by multitudes, "a whole burnt-offering. . .at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, before the Lord." From among devotees of the revival who lived in the wealthy valleys of the South, Mr. Roberts faced the Northern itinerary, believing that God was leading him. From then on, he did not work in the South. During the progress of his mission in the North, he suffered a very serious physical collapse (of that more later) which sud­denly changed the tenor of his life. Work carried on elsewhere, after this, was done by others-his brother Dan Roberts, more especially, aided by friends of his who had been blessed at the same time. In some parts of North Wales, God’s Spirit had been working powerfully for weeks, churches in some localities experiencing a quickening unknown to the present gen­eration. Long before the advent of Mr. Roberts, they were having refreshing showers "from the presence of the Lord." The evangelist’s coming, therefore, was antici­pated with almost impatient keenness.

Everywhere crowds hailed him. Buildings could not possibly accommodate the multitudes that followed him. Caernarvon is noted for its fine churches. There is per­haps no city in Great Britain more richly supplied in that way. The meetings had to be held in the great Han which provided room for ten thousand people. Even this was inadequate, hundreds being unable to find admission.

Although he was assisted wholeheartedly during his tour by the ministers of all the denominations, and there was abundant evidence that "the common people heard him gladly," there were reports trickling through, by various means and agencies, that things were not going so well with the work in the North. There was the dif­ference in temperament of the people. Was Mr. Roberts becoming keenly conscious of this and feeling the distinc­tion in his spirit? The Sassiwn, an annual institution dat­ing from past generations, set apart days of preaching of the gospel when foremost preachers from North and South were invited to take part. Usually held in the open field, it was this year given over entirely to the revivalist in honor of his visit, because the majority of the people wanted it. For the moment, the voice of the finest preach­er would go unheeded. Silence was golden. God was changing His method of speaking. During those days, crowds fell on their faces in the field, some seeking and crying for mercy, others noisily exuberant in a newly found Christian experience. But somehow there was a heaviness and reticence that must have seemed strange to the revivalist. Quick responsiveness and a ready spon­taneity were lacking. This would be apparent only to the keenly sensitive and acutely spiritual.

Perhaps the curiosity always engendered by the pres­ence of Mr. Roberts accounted for much of this feeling. It is possible that the Christians in North Wales had not inured themselves to the particular form that this spiritual awakening was taking. They were looking to the leader to stand on his feet, and to be like other ministers and revivalists that the older ones remembered. If so, then the difficult atmosphere, of which the revivalist must have been keenly aware, is easily explained. Had the people been brought into such a spiritual state as to forget the presence of Mr. Roberts, they would have realized the melting presence of the Holy Spirit much oftener than they did. It was a lesson difficult to learn, but when com­pletely mastered, it led to untold blessing. The churches in the South had grasped the importance of this lesson early in the history of the mighty spiritual outbreak, for it was emphasized with such a persistency in all the meetings that the most sluggish minds could not but be impressed with its importance. When Mr. Roberts’ pres­ence was thus rigidly ignored, the spirits of the people were liberated for the purpose of worship. The heavens poured forth floods of grace into the hearts of the seeking people. Conscious of a divine anointing resting upon them, they abandoned themselves unreservedly to the power of God and experienced, in some little measure, at least, what it meant to have "power with God and with men" in intercession.

During his visit to Birkenhead and Liverpool, Mr. Roberts came into contact with this difficult spirit for the first time in his Northern tour. It probably was strange to him. There, at least, was to be found a very real cause for it. Not long after his arrival, he sensed a spirit of disunity existing among the churches, particularly in those of his own denomination. This created a bulwark athwart the pathway of the Holy Spirit, hindering His operations, frustrating the beneficent influences always emanating from His gracious presence. What would be the reaction of the Spirit-filled servant of God to such conditions? Would he ruthlessly tear aside this mask of insincerity and expose to all the world the hollowness of carnal pretenses? That is just what he did, with a courage and fearlessness that must have been God-given. But the price must have been heavy in both the physical and spiritual realm. Sur­rounding him on every hand were the princes and leaders of the section of the church to which he belonged, the Calvinistic Methodist Church of Wales. One can well imagine that this did not help him; it was no source of inspiration to him. Frail human nature would have imme­diately hoisted the flag of compromise, inscribing upon it the suggestion of a "hush-hush" policy as the wisest and easiest course. If such a thought ever came to the mind of Mr. Roberts, we have cause to render ceaseless praise to God that he was enabled by divine grace to turn a deaf ear to the seductive voice.

There was in the city of Liverpool a minister who had seceded from the denomination to which he had belonged for years. He started a church of his own, his adherents following him in large numbers out of their own de­nominations to associate themselves with this new work. Whether the unfortunate schism was caused by a doc­trinal lapse or whether differences had risen on the ques­tion of "church government" never was clear. Disruptions of this nature in the body ecclesiastic have always brought gray hairs to young heads and unwelcome wrinkles to youthful faces of those who are profoundly concerned about the welfare of God’s Zion in the world. There can be little doubt but that this outbreak in the Church of God in Wales must have caused many a heartache to the leaders. Did Evan Roberts know of the existence of this division previous to his visit? Was he aware that the denomination to which he belonged was rent by serious schism, before he came to Liverpool? These questions arose, for the people were anxious to draw conclusions that were fair and truthful. Personally, I have not the least doubt but that the revivalist was perfectly sincere in all that he said and did at the meetings; that he would not lend an ear to local gossip. It is my unalterable con­viction that Mr. Roberts spoke under the guidance of the Spirit, in obedience to a divine impulse, with the inten­tion of rectifying the situation. To the consternation of all present, Mr. Roberts boldly affirmed that the schismatic tendencies apparent in this movement were a definite hindrance to the working of the Spirit of God in the city, and that the persons responsible were agents of the devil. With unusual audacity, he proclaimed that a revelation had been given him to the effect that the building sedulously erected by these misguided zealots was but a house built on sand. He appealed to the people to desist and to return to their former denomi­national allegiance.

People today would be inclined to depreciate the im­portance of the declaration, concluding in their self­complacency that it was "much ado about nothing." Those fully acquainted with all the details knew only too well that there were inflammable elements inherent in the situa­tion that could cause irreparable damage to the cause of our Lord. Mr. Roberts concluded that only a major operation, performed immediately by a skillful, steady hand, could prevent the spreading of the malady. The conditions were serious. Things were moving to a climax. The sharp lancet of God’s Word, in the form of rebuke, had to be used. To his credit be it said that he never shirked the distasteful task. Who would care to rush in, to carry out such a project, except under divine compulsion? The revivalist himself considered it impor­tant to draw his audience’s attention to the existence of a potential enemy. This enemy would, unless drastically dealt with, succeed in retarding the progress of God’s work in the churches, and in the revival in particular. Newspaper reports gave the subject much publicity.

Mr. Roberts’ stay in those two cities was neither too long, nor too happy. Hindrances to the working of the Holy Spirit seemed to accumulate daily. It was the cause of great grief to Evan Roberts, and was symptomatic of the whole of his North Wales tour. It was widely rumored in the South that the revivalist was too much under the domination of the denomination to which he belonged; that he had, unconsciously perhaps, allowed himself to be led from the simple, unsectarian character of the previ­ous work, and was now more partial to the large churches.

How could that be so? He arranged no meetings of his own but all were planned by the Reverend J. Mardy Davies beforehand.

________ For some time Mr. Roberts had conscientiously followed the route mapped for him. The fact that he was so com­pletely surrounded by the leading officials of the Methodist Church may have been the cause of persistent "whisper­ing" that Mr. Roberts was rapidly losing his personal free­dom of action. Our friends in North Wales are more reticent in re­gard to their religious sentiments, which fact makes them more conservative in expressing their deepest spiritual emotions. Perhaps they found it difficult, if not impossible, to liberate themselves from the bondage of their natural predilections. In which case they deserve our sympathy, instead of our censure. The people loved to hear the Word of God preached in the power of the Holy Spirit. Enthusiasm-such as they were capable of-ran high when sinners walked down from crowded galleries to make their confession of Christ. But it certainly was not the same kind of enthusiasm to be found in some other neigh­borhoods.

There is no doubt but that Mr. Roberts was beginning to feel that the continual strain of the work was telling upon his strong constitution. Inhaling the air of over­crowded gatherings was unhealthy. Keeping irregular hours for weeks on end without proper periods for rest was literally burning the candle at both ends. Unnumbered crowds gave him no respite, and he needed an iron con­stitution to survive. There was the ever present burden of souls, which could not be relinquished for five minutes. Irregular hours for sleeping; unlimited hours for work­ing; uncontrolled hours for eating--could mortal man anywhere survive an ordeal so contrary to the laws of nature? The first intimation that came to the public that all was not quite well was the newspaper report that he was com­pelled to spend a few days of rest at Capel Curig, with friends. (With the gradual prolongation of the period of rest, friends became anxious, and inquiries about his health, by telegram and letter, arrived at his address in a ceaseless stream, to the discomfort of the kind people providing the much needed hospitality.) The strain had culminated in slight paralysis of the brain, so report had it.

It was during this crisis in Mr. Roberts’ life, if memory serves me aright, that Mr. and Mrs. Penn-Lewis made his acquaintance and proved such staunch friends, until they were called to be with the Lord, about twenty-seven years later.